Wolfenstein: Youngblood Will Feature Uncensored Nazi Imagery In Germany, A Series First

I am perfectly fine with this.

They changed the law in Germany, so you can now use Nazi imagery in "art" (including games). This used to be prohibited.

A "clean" version. That reminds me I need to censor my house. Clean and censor are synonyms right?

This reminds me of the Simpsons episode where they go to Germany and Lisa notices that in their guide book it says nothing happened in 1939 - 1945 and her guide just says "WE WERE ALL ON HOLIDAY!"

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

killing nazis, oh yeah, just like the COD good old days

@Rhaoulos Depends. If there are blood spatters in your house it is definitely smart to censor it.

@sanderev That's not exactly true. You could always use Nazi symbols in art. The Indiana Jones movies have always been uncensored for example.

But in 1998 a court decided that this didn't apply to Wolfenstein 3D and it was banned (I don't know why it took them 6 years to decide that).
Based on this decision the German rating board (USK) refused to rate games with Nazi symbols going forward.

However in the last 20 year the view on games as art has changed and they gave a rating to an educational game about resistance fighters in Berlin last year.

@EasyDaRon I know, I was just saying....ah doesnt matter

@EasyDaRon It is for Germans. And people arguing for video games being considered art.
The more Germany eases up on censorship themselves the better it fares for the EU.

As it should be. Modern Germans are just as disgusted by the atrocities committed by the Nazis as the rest of us and are fully entitled to enjoy destroying them in video game form.

@sanderev Yes, this is literally stated in the article...

It's fiction, I get it. But I have a friend who's parents are holocaust survivors. My grandfather fought the Nazis. It really is sick the way the media has degraded Nazis from the real monsters they were, to almost cartoon like "bad guys".

Not saying we should censor, we shouldn't, but I wish people would be more aware that they weren't just generic antagonists, they were some of the absolute worst humans who have ever lived. They were real world evil at its most pronounced.

The fact that modern day Nazis exist is abhorrent.

About time. And I still don't understand why some people are butthurted. I mean are you trying to deny it happened and that's why you try to hide it and censor it? Actually by censoring it you're denying. By not censoring it you're showing that it won't hold you back because of the tragic history. You're above it. And it's just a game people please get some life

How about featuring a release on a cart?

They can keep it until then.

@Blizzia What a great way to prove that you are using a word only as a slur without any understanding of the term.

@StevenG Oh I understand the term. I understand it quite well actually, as I've studied it for years. You see, in my country it's mandatory to have everything regarding Germany's 20th century (and a few outliers from the 19th) drilled into your head from your first history lesson until and including your journey through University (unless you go with science, where you're still happily allowed to take elective courses that explore this exact history YET again).

I actually majored in German and History before going to the University as well. My final exam back then was a 40 page report on Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, his life and his failed assassination attempt on Hitler (If you're unfamiliar with it, it's called "Operation Valkyrie").

But sure, lets go with your superficial analysis of the single sentence I wrote and brand me completely ignorant regarding the subject.

@Blizzia Perhaps next time, don't use language so carelessly.
You might be well educated on the topic, but you write as though you are totally ignorant of it.

I was going to pick it up on Switch, but since it isn't going to be physical, I'll pick up the PS4 version instead. But this is some nice news for Germany

@StevenG Language exists solely to be used. It has no other purpose.

So don't tell me how to use language.

@Blizzia So you are educated, but painfully stupid. Now I understand. The actual purpose of language is communication. Simply making noise or random marks can be "used".

@Rhaoulos SAYS "A "clean" version. That reminds me I need to censor my house. Clean and censor are synonyms right?"

REPLY: That's a very clever observation.

@StevenG Insulting me won't make you look like less of an imbecile

@Maroc Erm yes, they are.

I think it's all bullcrap, why do we need to censor history?

I don’t think the point of the rule is to “censor history” or avoid that truth. Germany is very diligent about acknowledging this darkest of spots on their history. I believe this law is meant to prevent neo-nazi’s or others from trying to popularize, normalize, or make nazi’s fashionable. Luckily for Wolfenstein it’s very anti-nazi. If it were more “grey” then it probably would be forced to be censored.

@Blizzia How do you 'major in German and history' before starting your higher education?

@nintendoknife I see you're unaware of the system of my country :3

That's how. You see, we have an odd mix of high school / college / pre-university education stuff instead of a clean split (A clean split would be something like grade/middle/high/college/uni. Ours sometimes end up combining high/college, college/uni and so on, in terms of its "rank" in the hierarchy of education. You choose a major if you pick that sort of education, since it's meant to be a clean transition right into University, as well as elective courses just like you would at the University).

Essentially there are four parts to your higher education. pre-uni combo, bachelor, masters and PhD. In my case the pre-uni combo is much like a bachelor in terms of timeframe yet a tad more focused on what you major in.

@Maroc You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't have any mistakes you can name in the first place.

Hiding the past doesn't make it go away. Censoring it doesn't make it disappear. Refraining from using words associated with it doesn't make you a better person, or give you cookie points with the victims.

Mr. T can stick it if he feels otherwise.

@Blizzia I notice you have no rebuttals. I am glad you have seemed to absorbed the fact that language is for communication. Perhaps if we keep this up you might learn much more.

Hurrah for modern racism.

@Heavyarms55 Well, they surely showcased them as they were in the last Wolfenstein games. Our grandpas were war heroes. Mine fought in a different war though.

@StevenG A rebuttal to what? You provided nothing that required a rebuttal.

All you did was rearrange a few words and otherwise just repeat a fact already stated. That language exists solely to be used. Reminds me of those kids that like to copy homework by rearranging a few lines and then calling it a day.

You learn something new every day, they say. But I guess that doesn't apply for you.

@Blizzia
"You see, in my country it's mandatory to have everything regarding Germany's 20th century (and a few outliers from the 19th) drilled into your head from your first history lesson until and including your journey through University"
If you're so well educated in history and our education system you know exactly that this just isn't true. Nazi time is on our education plan, yes. For reasons. But "drilled in our head" isn't near at the truth.

It's good, that people have the option to buy two versions of the game, but still, inside of them, they'll know it's about nazis, if they get the censored version.

@mist Sadly, the people in Belgium seem to have forgotten, as they are more and more voting for the parties that are national socialist fascists in all but name. And now that they "won" the elections, their voters seem to think they can spew their toxic racism freely, which is showing more and more. They seem to think their "majority" justifies the oppression of everyone who isn't "one of their people". Basically an inherent evil of "representative democracy", but with an even uglier, more hateful face now.

All that aside, history shouldn't be censored. Also in Belgium, history classes don't tell us about Leopold 2, "our very own" monstrous monarch. We learn all about "our" "heroes" though, and the "glorious" dictatorships of the Roman empire and such. History classes are basically nationalist propaganda.

Makes sense, since it's always had people fighting nazis in it. It's no more shocking then watching Indianna Jones.

@Blizzia I see, so how old are you - generally speaking, if all goes to plan and you don't have to redo anything - when starting the pre-uni combo? I thought more or less everywhere you start a bachelors at 18, masters at 21 and a PhD afterwards for the few who really like their field of study. It sounds as though your system either has you start the bachelors relatively late or the pre-uni combo at a really young age.

A always thought that trying to "clean up" and censor history only does a disservice to that history. The Nazi's were terrible, we shouldn't try to sugarcoat that.

@New_Guest Yeah that is a fair point. And I don't think they should be censored, I just don't think they should be trivialized.

@New_Guest I'd like to believe it is ignorance, not maliciousness.

But I am not hopeful.

@Heavyarms55
My grandparents (all 4) were Holocaust survivors and I couldn't agree more or have said it better myself, thank you.

@Cosats
Wasn't 'Mr. Censor' aka Mr. Clean a bald guy selling cleaning products?

I believe its use in the game was little more than click bait as well as free advertising by youtube vids that will be created by the very polarization of the topic itself. It was a cheap shot by a company that could have done better.

@nintendoknife Our system can be a bit confusing at times since there are really no set ages for anything - you can graduate university at age 10 if you wish (and have the wits of course), but if I had to pick an interval...

Pre-uni combo typically starts around age 16-20. Bachelor typically age 19-24, as many take more elective courses inbetween to strengthen their application power when applying for uni. Masters is usually in succession of it regardless of when you start since that's the only time you're guaranteed a spot on those courses.

To elaborate a bit, depending on how "efficient" you want to be, you can typically choose an institution that matches the amount of time you want to dedicate to studying with most taking avg 3 years, and some going as low as 1.5 or 2 years (select few 1 year but it's literally breathing studies from you awake till you go to bed, with weekends set off for classes as well - my brother tried it and its brutal).

@Vectorman Mr. T is cool and all, but I still stand by my opinion, and if his differs from mine.. Well, then I've got no reason to talk to him.

@Maroc I never stated the holocaust was a mistake. I also never stated they tried to hide the symbol in general.

What I stated was that they have been very strict with any Nazi symbols in games - and that is a fact.

You clearly don't know, but Germany has had a blanket ban on Nazi symbols in games since around the 1990s. Even "Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus" included censorship like removing Hitler's moustache to lessen the likeness of the model to the actual man himself.

Heck, the blanket ban wasn't lifted until August last year. So, despite your opinion or misplaced interpretation of what Germany does and does not hide/censor, they did ban Nazi symbols from the 1990s to ~August 2018 in VIDEO GAMES, which is what we're discussing.

I'll toss you a random article, you can google the multitudes of others if you wish: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/10/europe/germany-video-games-nazi-symbols-intl/index.html

Also, here's a quote from the article of Germany's criminal code: "Germany's criminal code prohibits the public use of "symbols of unconstitutional organizations" — they include the swastika, the Celtic cross, the Nazi salute and other symbols associated with the Nazi Party."

The reason they lifted the ban last year was because until then, games were not considered works of art in the same way movies were.

Despite the lift of the ban, they still remain VERY strict, but allow games critical of the imagery/symbols to have a chance at being rated with those symbols intact.

@Maroc It wasn't a debate, it was a verbal pounding my friend. You were wrong and had your behind handed to you on a silver platter.

My remarks weren't wrong, they were absolutely correct. If they're no longer in the comment section, it's because NL staff wishes to censor me. I NEVER delete a statement I've made. Because I stand by it.

@Coxula I am not from United Kingdom I'm guessing you took a look at my profile. I put UK to be able to participate in UK giveaways since I know a lot of people in the UK... And to avoid people gleaning my actual country from a quick profile skim.

Lol: Who wants to buy the censored version anyway?! Its nonsense!

There's also a "family friendly" version of Deadpool. Can you imagine something more nonsensical? As if you buy a bag of crisps...without the crisps.

Good on you Germany. I know there is history to be wary of but the medium of video games is more than worthy of contributing to the public forum.

A lot of people here are off on crazy tangents. Germany is of course diligent in acknowledging the nazis in history lessons and in art. It's just that video games were not considered worthy of such designation until recently. This issue is wholly about video games as a substantial, important medium which I can't imagine anyone here disagreeing with.

@Vectorman Him being famous doesn't change anything - I harbor no extra respect for famous people

And yes, I'm not from the UK, and I don't live there. If I win a giveaway, I have it sent to my UK friends since they are quite poor and don't often have money for things beyond absolute necessities.

They don't frequent sites that do giveaways since they have little spare time as it is, which is spent with their kids mostly. So I enter into the giveaways that are UK-only, in the hopes I can win them some stuff.

I wouldn't have any use for anything from a giveaway myself anyway. I could just buy it without a second thought. I could also make life easier for my UK friends but they refuse to take money or other things from anybody, so giveaways are the only acceptable thing xD

@Vectorman Don't worry, it's fine :3 I realize my statement could've been misunderstood.

But yeah, it's not like winning a giveaway happens often anyway - think I've won 2 overall during the past 4 years. (0 on NL)

@Vectorman No problemo! (this part is to fill out the mandatory words to actually post this reply)